Thanks to fellow forum member Lefty, I've had an opportunity to use the "pettysuki" that he had Pierre make for him. These are some of my impressions of the knife.

It was Lefty's idea, brought into existence by Pierre, to make a longish, wa-handled utility knife with a sujihiki-like profile. S35VN was chosen as the steel, despite Lefty's love of carbon steel. As you can see from the pics, Lefty and Pierre made sure the handle is a stunning piece of art.

The blade is 179mm long, with a cutting edge of 169mm. It has a moderate amount of distal taper, with the spine measuring 2.55mm at the heel, 2.05mm at the midpoint and 1.10mm 5mm from the tip. It is 41mm tall at the heel, providing plenty of finger clearance for board work. Weighing 138g, it balances 10mm behind the front edge of the ferrule. The handle is a full-size gyuto handle, rather than a scaled-down petty handle, and may or may not suit your preferences.

Lefty designed this knife to serve as an all-purpose utility that could also be pressed into performing gyuto-like tasks, and it excels at this. If you like using a 150mm petty for a lot of what you do, then you'll love this knife. I found it to be the best knife I could imagine for making sandwiches, from slicing tomatoes to cutting a hard roll in half.

Edge retention is exceptional. I used the knife for almost two weeks before it needed to be touched up on a loaded strop. I still have not found an excuse to take it to the stones.

Anyway, many thanks to Lefty for lending me his "child" and to Pierre for making it.

mc2442

10-09-2011, 01:07 PM

A beauty!

Lefty

10-09-2011, 01:25 PM

I'm glad you've enjoyed using it, and that you've found it to be a useful knife. I quite honestly thnk if I could only have one knife in my home kitchen, this would be it.
Those are some great pics too. However, they make me feel like my "baby" should be holding a sign saying, "Pay the man $1000,000.00 and I'll be returned safe and sound". ;)
One question for those who are curious, how do you like S35VN for kitchen duties?

...One question for those who are curious, how do you like S35VN for kitchen duties?+1 What progression did you use in the sharpening and how did it respond?

PierreRodrigue

10-09-2011, 06:55 PM

Western plains buffalo horn feurrel, vulcanized fiber spacer. Glad its finding favour! The steel is harder to work than most I have used, but I think the extended edge retention makes it worth it.

Lefty

10-09-2011, 10:04 PM

Western plains buffalo horn feurrel, vulcanized fiber spacer

That's what I meant. Haha

RRLOVER

11-10-2011, 07:56 AM

I just seen this post.......WOW!!! That is a Super Pimp A$$ knife.I LOVE IT.I hope you don't mind if I try and copy it.

tk59

11-10-2011, 10:53 AM

Yeah. I've been thinking about this knife more, lately. +1 to the "Super Pimp A$$."

The hekler

11-10-2011, 11:30 AM

I really wish you had an iPhone friendly site Pierre, this is the third time I've gone to check out your stuff only to be foiled by flash.

PierreRodrigue

11-11-2011, 01:19 AM

I will look into it...

Thanks for the kind words you guys! It means alot! Glad you like it!

Pierre

Lefty

12-23-2011, 12:21 AM

I just got the Pettysuki back from its trip down south. It came back well loved, well cared for and with a slight tan(?)
Seriously though, I'm glad it's back!!! I was more than happy to let a couple of the guys on here give it a whirl, but I ended up really missing it. I used it today and I think I had forgotten just how great the little beauty is.
Well, that's all. I just felt like sharing. Haha

Pensacola Tiger

12-23-2011, 12:35 AM

Thanks for sharing your jewel. I miss it.

Eamon Burke

12-23-2011, 12:59 AM

I loved it! The design is deceptively accommodating--when cutting rinds off of things, I often move my knuckles out of the way to make for clearance on such a small knife, but this thing provides ample room.

The profile is perfect for it's size, and the gentle curve allowed for it to behave like a bigger knife, but the heel section still took care of small chopping tasks.

The handle is larger than I would have, but it was specifically made by request with a larger handle, so no beefs there. The mammoth tooth is sooooo cool looking, and it's fun to let people guess at what it is all day long(everyone's first guess was "Jade"), without ever coming close.

The steel, s35vn, is my personal favorite all-around stainless. I love the way it feels on the hones and love how tough it is while still taking a great edge. It doesn't hold a refreshable edge forever like some good carbon steels I've used(notably Mr. Rader's W2), but (though nothing ever will, thankfully)this steel comes closest in my estimation to "full-on stainless that acts like a carbon steel".

Man, was this a fantastic little knife to have around. I loved it so much, and am so grateful to Lefty for letting me borrow it, I had to give a little back. So I made this out of poplar, since it's a little green:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-in93laTPsVQ/TtlZp583WpI/AAAAAAAAAVU/taIgFhbaCqQ/s912/2011-12-02%25252017.01.50.jpg
Doesn't quite hit the ferrule, but hey, at least it'll never need a pin!

Thanks Lefty! You rock, and so does Mr. Rodrigue. :thumbsup:
:hatsoff:

Lefty

12-26-2011, 05:05 PM

No problem, Eamon! I'm glad you and Rick enjoyed it so much!
I thought I should mention that the saya you made is great, with nicely rounded edges and really clean lines.
Thanks for the surprise. :D